Real thrashing by Houllier's men

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Paris: Gerard Houllier's rehabilitation as a manager gained
ground as French champions Lyon thrashed nine-time European
champions Real Madrid 3-0 in their opening Champions League group
match.

Houllier's former team and reigning champions Liverpool also won
for good measure, beating another Spanish side, Real Betis, 2-1 in
Seville.

It was a good night for British clubs as Chelsea edged Belgian
league leaders Anderlecht 1-0 while Rangers were twice pegged back
but eventually emerged 3-2 victors over 2004 Champions League
winners Porto.

Both the Milan clubs won their opening matches with AC Milan -
sensationally beaten on penalties in last season's final after
leading 3-0 - scoring two late goals to beat Turkish side
Fenerbahce 3-1 and Inter scraping a 1-0 victory away at surprise
group qualifiers Artmedia Bratislava.

Norwegian side Rosenborg pulled off an excellent result in the
fiery cauldron of Greek outfit Olympiakos' stadium with a 3-1
victory, but the victors will find Lyon a tough nut to crack in a
fortnight.

Lyon's goals came in a 10-minute period of the first-half
through Norwegian international John Carew, Brazilian midfielder
Juninho and Sylvain Wiltord.

Houllier - who guided Liverpool to UEFA Cup glory - was ecstatic
at his team's outstanding display. "The first half was like a
dream," said the former France national coach.

Liverpool grabbed two early goals through Florent
Sinama-Pongolle and Luis Garcia but were perhaps a bit fortunate to
come away with the three points. Betis fought back hard but had
only Arzu's goal as reward.

Chelsea were far from impressive but had England international
Frank Lampard to thank for their narrow win over Anderlecht,
although Blues manager Jose Mourinho said he was satisfied. "I
think we played very well in the first half and deserved more," he
said.

His Anderlecht counterpart, Frank Vercauteren, said he was proud
of the way his side had battled, though he admitted he had expected
his players to take on Chelsea more often up front.

"However, we still posed them problems in the second half and we
will be ready for them in the second match at our place," said the
former Belgium international midfielder.

Sotirios Kyrgiakos scored the decisive goal in the five-goal
thriller between Rangers and Porto. Rangers manager Alex McLeish
was delighted with the win but admitted Porto were unlucky not to
have taken anything from the game.

"I can't praise the players highly enough and the spirit and
fight they showed to take the lead three times was terrific,"
McLeish said.

"I'm not going to dispute the fact that Porto are a better
footballing side than us, and we are not going to kid ourselves
on."

Kaka was AC Milan's star turn as he scored twice, including one
that earned him the highest of praise - comparisons with
Argentinian legend Diego Maradona. "I didn't see him play very much
but I'm very happy to be compared with him," Kaka said on hearing
that he had been likened to his fellow South American.